-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Manchester City crushed Aston Villa 4-0 with Mario Balotelli scoring a hat-trick to go temporarily top of the English Premier League ahead of city rivals Manchester United 's 1-1 draw at Birmingham later Tuesday .

Although City were only at the head of affairs for a few hours , the manner of their victory suggested they will be a factor in the title race , but for Gerard Houllier 's Villa it was another dispiriting defeat .

Tottenham Hotspur , who won 2-1 at Villa on Boxing Day , beat Newcastle 2-0 in another afternoon kick-off to leapfrog Chelsea into fourth place .

Goals from Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale in the second half maintained Tottenham 's impressive recent run and spelt a second straight defeat for Newcastle under new manager Alan Pardew .

Man Utd regain top spot despite draw

Bale scored the clinching second after a trademark surging run after Younes Kaboul had been sent off for the home side after tangling with Cheick Tiote .

At Eastlands , Balotelli proved a real handful for Villa , winning an early penalty after being hauled down by Eric Lichaj .

The Italian got up to convert the penalty and City were 2-0 ahead inside the first 15 minutes as Joleon Lescott headed home Adam Johnson 's corner .

Balotelli scored his second from close range before the break and completed his hat-trick in the second half with his second successful penalty after Johnson was fouled by Marc Alrighton .

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini took a realistic view of their hgih placing .

`` I know that we are top but I think it will only be for three hours . It is important to be there at the end of the season , '' the Italian told BBC Sport .

Elsewhere , promoted Blackpool continued their remarkable season under Ian Holloway with a 2-0 win at Sunderland to go eighth , having been the favorites to go straight back down at the start of the campaign .

Two second half goals from DJ Campbell gave Blackpool three points in their first match since December 11 after their own Bloomfield Road ground was unfit to play due to a frozen pitch .

Chris Baird scored two early goals as Fulham relieved some of the pressure on manager Mark Hughes with a 2-0 win at Stoke , while Blackburn 's fans will be happier after Nikoli Kalinic scored twice in a 3-1 victory at West Brom .

Kalinic blotted his copybook by being sent off for a wild challenge in the second half , but it was the first win for new manager Steve Kean , who took over from the sacked Sam Allardyce .

In Tuesday 's evening kickoff , West Ham missed the chance to move out of the bottom three when they were held 1-1 at home by Everton .

The Hammers took the lead when Tony Hibbert diverted Radoslav Kovac 's overhead kick into his own net .

Everton leveled just before halftime through Seamus Coleman , before Carlton Cole missed a great opportunity to seal victory for the home side after the break .

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Manchester City beat Aston Villa 4-0 to go temporarily top of English Premier League

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Italian striker Mario Balotelli scores a hat trick at Eastlands

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Tottenham Hotspur score 2-0 home win over Newcastle to go fourth

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Blackpool continue superb season with 2-0 win at Sunderland